HERE'S THE PITCH

You know that feeling when you have watched a series from start to finish? Especially a comedy series. 7 seasons of investment and yet there are still some character arcs that aren’t truly completed. They feel rushed and left behind.

That’s it. That’s the feeling I have had for the last year. I feel like the character who in season 5 was starting to find their footing in the group. Their storylines were just starting to push through the noise and mean something. Then the show got notice that they were getting cancelled and had a season and half to wrap it all up. So any progress for my character just kind of ended. I was not written out – but now my character is just around for pep talks, advice, and laughs. Good stuff, but always a length away from actual plot. 2020 – The season 7 slump.

I honor how deeply lucky and privileged I am. Gosh I truly recognize both of those things and am so grateful for every single day that I have breath in my lungs, a roof over my head, and the opportunity to continue learning and growing. But this week, it really hit me --- my “series” was cancelled and EVEN WORSE, there are “rumors” that some other network might want to pick it up? So I can’t let go. I’m stuck wondering, “Am I going to wait for that moment of rebirth…or do I try again with a new character in a new imagined world?”

Forgive the metaphor, but metaphor and make believe are all I know. Metaphor and make believe (why isn’t makebelive all one word? It’s all one idea…anyways I digress) are the stuff that makes me me. Which is perhaps why I see the last decade of my life as a seven-season sitcom? I’m sure you feel it too.

But here I am, waiting for someone to tell me what to do. Waiting for someone to say, “I see you and I value you and I want YOU to be on my team.” Or waiting for someone to say THE SERIES WAS CANCELLED MOVE ON. Or waiting for someone to say --- “Hey maybe your character deserves a spin-off?” Or maybe “the network” will call and say, “I think we have another year in us --- let’s try again!” But these calls aren’t coming. And no matter how many friends promise me that I will find my footing again, I can’t help but feel a massive hole in my chest day in and day out. The rhythm of my series is gone and nobody around me knows the cadence.

At first, I was like --- I’m going to write my OWN SCRIPT. To step away from metaphor for a moment, I truly built my dream at the beginning of quarantine: free arts education for professionals and aspiring professionals. And after six months of running the program from top to bottom, I was exhausted, alone, and for lack of a better term, nobody “picked it up.” See how we slipped right back into metaphor there? I kept thinking, some major theatrical establishment will see this and think, “This is a great idea! We should hire Kate to keep this going and we can make money off of advertising. That way creative professionals have access to things that will help them at no cost and we can increase our profits! It’s a win-win!” But that moment never happened, and I just kept thinking --- push on, push on Kate, push on. Head down, push on.

And I did. I did what we all did. I found odd jobs, and I taught, and I coached, and I stopped spending money I didn’t have, and I sat in the feeling of “less than,” and I ate my feelings, and I worked out sometimes, and I took to the streets, and I had really hard conversations, and I fucked up, and I unlearned a lot of really ingrained things, and I went on walks, and I spoke on panels, and I listened more than I spoke, and I missed the thrill of brainstorming, and I found my weekly trip to the grocery store overwhelming, and I missed human interactions, and I wished that for just one day my life might feel like Season 3 again – you know the one where we all had a least one episode that felt like a major win and we each got one truly magical Mia Thermopolis foot popping kiss? Good times.

But that series is over folks. And honestly --- thank god. That series is dated, antiquated, and twee. It was network and honey we are STREAMING SERVICE or bust now. So, I woke up this morning, and realized I’m done waiting for a call from “the network”. Fuck it. It’s time to pitch the next phase.

So here we go. Here’s my pitch.  

It’s an ensemble dramedy where a group of creative folks who come together as a version of the Avengers -- but for the arts. We take all of our different experiences, self-started companies, and passions and we FIGHT like hell to be of service together. We have an amazing rent free office space that we share, where we spend each morning bouncing ideas off of each other over coffee at a big round wooden table and then each day we fucking make it happen together. We get the grants and find the sponsors. We empower people to tell their stories. We fight for arts education in our schools. We help college arts programs find new and healthier ways of teaching the next generation. We fight to create new and equitable systems in ALL aspects of this industry. We use our different gifts and experiences to help each other fight and grow. We make phone calls for each other and share our connections. We embrace technology and continue to educate ourselves. We get new stories produced and build beautiful worlds for folks to enjoy. We show up when others won’t, and we don’t do it in a siloed way. We use our own purposes to make each other thrive. We don’t wait for old institution to give us permission and we step down when we know it’s time to pass the torch – every year there are new artists who come in and step out. We are educators, and producers, and creatives, and fitness experts, and non-profits, and advocates, and business brains, and world builders, and titles that haven’t been imagined yet. Guaranteed frustration and drama will ensue. There will be tons of late-night drinks and tears. But there will be more wins that we could ever imagine. I’m sure there will be kissing and babies and inside jokes – and most importantly a cadence we all speak together. A rhythm that will be remembered.

It’s called Avail. And DUH it’s not a series, it’s a new business model built on accountability, standards of practice, and compassionate teamwork across disciplines. We keep each other in check, we learn from each other, we listen, & our minds, hearts, and creativity are avail.

 
AVAIL.png
 

I was on the phone with one of my oldest friends yesterday and he said, “Kate what do you want next? If you didn’t have to wait --- what is it?” And it’s that. The next chapter is not fantasy world building --- it’s real world building. But I can’t do it alone. And I don’t want to.

So, I’m putting this out there into the universe because I’m done waiting for a phone call that might never come from and industry that promises to change but won’t share timelines or show the receipts.

Are you Tech Avail? Because I’m ready to build a space. Because I’m over the Season Seven Slump. Let’s get picked up this season and do the damn thing. The revolution that people are waiting for is not going to happen in the existing systems. It’s time to build new ways to work, create, and share space together.

NOMARKING // Workshop Archive

NoMarking is an online community that provides free health, wellness, and business classes for working professionals (18+) in the theatre community during this time of uncertainty. Join us every week on Facebook for sessions led by industry professionals willing to share their time and knowledge for free.

Click the button below to join the private group and then click any of the images below to go directly to the replay of the class!

TIL2019 // BOOKS + LEARNING

BOOKS + LEARNING

Every year, I experience new+wonderful things, events, theatrical moments, books, etc. This year, some of my students have asked me to put together a list of the Things I Loved in 2019. So for the next week, I am going to share the things and moments that I discovered and loved throughout this past year in hopes that it might inspire you or make your life better/easier or more interesting in the year to come.

Today, I am sharing Books+Learning that improved my life in some way this year. Everything is linked below!

I read a lot of books in 2019. These books stopped me in my tracks, challenged my way of thinking, taught me things about people I thought I knew, made me weep, made me scream, made me hate and love and fear and wonder. They are not for everyone. But man oh man, for better or for worse, they were for me.

BOOKS I LOVED IN 2019

LEARNING TOOLS I LOVED IN 2019

TIL2019 // BEAUTY + WELLNESS

BEAUTY + WELLNESS

Every year, I experience new+wonderful things, events, theatrical moments, books, etc. This year, some of my students have asked me to put together a list of the Things I Loved in 2019. So for the next week, I am going to share the things and moments that I discovered and loved throughout this past year in hopes that it might inspire you or make your life better/easier in the year to come.

Today, I am sharing Beauty+Wellness products that improved my life in some way this year. Everything is linked below! Let me know if there is something that you have tried that I need to know about for 2020!

THE BUSINESS OF TIME

More and more recently, I find myself having discussions about time — How quickly it goes, how little we seem to have, and how nobody seems to respect other people’s time anymore. In our industry, everyone is their own business owner. And as such, I have found that we all (myself included) often have a tendency to focus on our own needs before the needs of others when it comes to scheduling. We cancel at the last min, we make false excuses, we “forget to send the email,” our phone dies, we choose to stay in, we allow ourselves to believe that it’s not a big deal to leave someone else hanging, and we simply don’t show up for each other. We forget, that in a consultant based industry, where very few people are employed by a company on a full-time salary, every hour counts.

Every hour is an opportunity to earn money, meet with someone who could change the trajectory of your life, show up for an appointment that will further your career, or is simply a moment to recharge when you truly need it. When we cancel, show up late, or make excuses, we are ignoring the possibilities of our future and losing valuable and meaningful possible relationships. There is no official ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule in the arts — but unofficially, it reigns supreme.

So, I wanted to create a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to scheduling your life as a professional artist. How do we create a timeline that works, is flexible, and still allows us to maintain personal and professional relationships without straining them? Some of these things have worked for me — though I am 100% not perfect at any of this! — so, I wanted to share them with you all and hopefully get us all on a little bit more respectful path.

DON’T MAKE FALSE EXCUSES

It never ceases to amaze me how many cancellation emails I get at the top of a day of appointments. I get so many, that as a rule, I now double book every other appointment to ensure that my creative teams have a full day. These cancellations are due to many things, some of which I know are truly devastating, and some of which, read very clearly as self-sabotage. Both break my heart.

When we lie to other people about why we aren’t showing up, A: they usually know and B: it means we are hiding the truth about why we can’t be there. Are you scared? Are you unprepared? Are you wanting to be somewhere else? Are you no longer interested in a person or project? WHY DON’T WE JUST TELL THE TRUTH? It makes everything so much easier when we are share what we know introspectively. Only then can we breakthrough excuse making and get to the good stuff. The stuff where we show up for our lives and succeed.

THE 48 HOUR RULE

Do not cancel a dinner, show, appointment, date night, catch-up, meeting, etc. within a 48 hour window if at all possible. When we get down to two days before an event, that person has made sure to carve out time FOR YOU. They want to see you for one reason or another. That means, they have given up work, turned down another person, or have sacrificed their own personal time to ensure that they have left time open FOR YOU. And when you cancel that close to the meeting, they often cannot find someone else to fill that time. That means that YOU have lost them potential revenue or human connection. So unless you are willing to pay them their hourly rate, find a way to be there. Honor the importance of their time by showing up.

SET STANDARDS YOU CAN MAINTAIN

If you know you are the kind of person who cannot respond to an email within an hour, do not establish that as your standard when you first begin working with a person. Be upfront and honest with the people in your life. If you hate texting, tell people that that is not the mode of communication you like best. If it takes you a solid 24 hours to respond to a voicemail, tell people you prefer to email. If DMing on Instagram is your chosen mode of communication — TELL PEOPLE. We are not mind readers, but we do deserve to know what your standard method of communication is and how long we should expect to wait before we hear from you. If we communicate about these things, then we can establish and maintain healthy boundaries and means of understanding. It also means, people know when to tell you something is important and needs immediate response.

LEAVE EARLIER THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED TO

This one is simple. The MTA is horrific. Leave at least thirty mins earlier than you think you do. There will always be a coffee shop or bar on every corner. You can fill the time if you are too early. Just do it. You will be so glad you did.

BE A GROWN UP AND OWN UP

We all know that feeling when we get an email about something that we don’t want to do and we don’t want to respond to it. So we just ignore it. If we don’t look at it, it doesn’t exist right? WRONG. Just because it doesn’t exist for you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist for the person who sent it. They are waiting FOR YOU TO RESPOND. Even if it is hard. Even if it is painful, you must hit send. You must tell them the truth — or a lovely version of the truth. Because the longer you wait, the more anxiety you are putting on yourself and the other person. Often, that person doesn’t even know how anxious they are making you. It’s not fair to them to keep them waiting — especially if it is about their business. Just tell them the truth. Be a grown up and own up to whatever is making you ignore your inbox. You know the other person knows something is wrong — so don’t ignore your feelings. Share them.

ALWAYS OFFER ANOTHER OPTION

If you must cancel an appointment with another person, always offer several other options of when you might be available to reschedule. It makes the other person feel valued and enables them to have some sort of power in a situation where they feel let down. However, if you offer the time — HOLD IT until they get back to you. There is nothing worse than saying you are free and having the person get back to you, only to have you respond that you are now busy. My rule of thumb, hold the time for 48 hours. If they have not responded, you should feel free to release it to other opportunities.

HONOR GROUP TIME

Scheduling a group of adult people is IMPOSSIBLE. It is truly like herding cats. As a person who loves group activities and also schedules full days of appointments all the time, let me tell you — it is literally a challenge that not all are up for. However, if you agree to show up for a group activity, you really need to show up. Especially if it is for an activity that cannot be done without a full group. Letting down a group of people who have chosen to spend time with you is creates a shift in the group dynamic that often times cannot be shaken. If you can show up, show up. These people must mean something to you if you agreed in the first place so really try to honor that initial instinct.

TRACK YOUR TARDINESS AND UNDERSTAND IT

When you need to say no, you need to say no. Honor yourself and know that sometimes, it is better for everyone if you don’t show up. When that happens, write it down. Track you tardiness and cancellations. See if there is a pattern. Are there days that really don’t work for you? Are mornings hard? Do late nights make you stressed out? Find the patterns and then make sure that you are scheduling yourself in a way that works best for you from the start. You can only learn from you patterns and habits, if you take the time to establish what they are.

Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you guys!



SELF-TAPE STARTER KIT

Hi Friends! Audition season is just around the corner, and huge part of the job right now is self-taping. I have had a lot of people tell me recently that self-taping is difficult for them because they can’t afford nice equipment. And I totally honor that! But alas — self-tapes are not going away!

So, I wanted to create a list of a couple of affordable products and tips that might make your life easier this season. Here are some of my favourite self-tape tools! And remember, Oscar nominated films have been made on iPhones — so please don’t stress yourself out abut spending $3,000 on a new camera if you are not also getting really excited about being a photographer!!

Here are a few SELF-TAPE TIPS!

  • Make sure that your work is prepped, you feel confident with your look, and that we can hear what you are saying!

  • Read ALL of the instructions in your self-tape request email — and then do the things that are asked of you. If you are supposed to use an accent, say something specific in your slate, etc — we will ask you to do it. Don’t negate yourself from booking because you didn’t follow all of the instructions!

  • Try not to have a distracting background, wardrobe, or reader. The simpler the better — I want to be able to focus on you only!

  • Be sure to show your full body at some point in the self-tape. Either during the slate, or you can start with a full body shot and slowly pan in during your scene work. Also, always shoot horizontally!

  • Once you have recorded your self-tape, please upload it to YouTube (unlisted), Vimeo, Dropbox, or WeTransfer. Make sure that the link is downloadable and if there is a password, don’t forget to share the password with your submission. Reminder, Google Drive asks you to grant permission to each email address that needs to see the content — and that often involves lots of extra steps.

  • Most importantly — MEET THE DEADLINE! If there is a timeline associated with returning the self-tape, make sure you have sent that tape by the time that is asked! If you return a tape late, it most likely will not be watched!


ED*U*CATE YOURSELF

Someone asked me last week what books they should be reading this fall if they want to learn more about the industry, its history, and its future! So, here is my list of essentials. Let me know if you pick one up -- or if I am missing anything!

BLIZZARD BINGE

Here's thing. The snow is coming tomorrow, the city is going to shut down, and you are going to sit on your couch and watch a whole season of a show that you have been wanting to watch for months. YAY!!!! You deserve a break!

But maybe you can use that time a wee bit productively as well? After you get through the season, maybe take some time to figure out what you learned from the show, how you can apply it to your future, and how you might be {or could become} connected to the show? Here is a worksheet to get you started!